Venezuela braces for new protests after deadly vote

July 31, 2017 1:00 pm

By AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE, Caracas, Venezuela, Jul 30 – Venezuela braced for new protests Monday after a controversial election for an assembly to rewrite the constitution unleashed a wave of unrest that left 10 people dead.

Opponents of embattled President Nicolas Maduro vowed another day of nationwide marches, defying an intensifying crackdown on protests that have left more than 120 people dead in four months.

Flouting international condemnation — including the threat of new sanctions by US President Donald Trump’s administration — Maduro meanwhile claimed victory in Sunday’s election, citing an official turnout figure of 41.5 percent.

The leftist leader encouraged the new “Constituent Assembly” to wield its vast powers to scrap opposition lawmakers’ immunity from prosecution as one of its first acts.

Protesters attacked polling stations and barricaded streets around the country on Sunday, drawing a bloody response from security forces, who opened fire with live ammunition in some cases.

Senior opposition leader Henrique Capriles called on Venezuelans to continue defying the deeply unpopular Maduro with new protests against the election and the “massacre” he said accompanied it.

“We do not recognize this fraudulent process,” he said, calling for nationwide marches Monday at noon (1600 GMT) and a mass protest in Caracas on Wednesday, the day the new assembly is due to be installed.

Maduro has banned protests over the vote, threatening prison terms of up to 10 years.

The death toll in Sunday’s protests included a candidate for the new assembly, a regional opposition leader, two teenage protesters and a soldier in the western state of Tachira, which saw some of the worst violence.

In eastern Caracas, seven police were wounded when an improvised explosive targeted their motorcycle convoy.

National guard troops used armored vehicles, rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse protesters blocking roads in the capital and other cities.

– ‘A sham’ –

According to polling firm Datanalisis, more than 70 percent of Venezuelans oppose the idea of the new assembly — and 80 percent reject Maduro, whose term is meant to end in 2019.

Venezuelans also protested in Miami, Madrid and various Latin American cities.

The number of Venezuelans living abroad has soared as the once-booming oil producer has descended into a devastating economic crisis marked by shortages, runaway inflation, riots and looting.

The US envoy to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, condemned the vote as a “sham” — a word also used by Britain’s junior foreign minister, Alan Duncan, and many experts.

“The vote means the end of any trace of democratic rule. Maduro’s blatant power grab removes any ambiguity about whether Venezuela is a democracy,” said Michael Shifter, head of the Inter-American Dialogue research center.

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE Agence France-Presse is a global news agency delivering fast, in-depth coverage of the events shaping our world from wars and conflicts to politics, sports, entertainment and the latest breakthroughs in health, science and technology.